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NEB ENGLISH GUIDE CLASS 11: ALL NOTES [ C. ENGLISH |M. ENGLISH] NEB ENGLISH SUPPORT
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What is Poverty? Exercise Jo Goodwin Parker
Summary | Question Answers
Class 11 English
Neb English Notes
What is Poverty? by Jo Goodwin Parker
DETAILED SUMMARY
What is Poverty by Jo Goodwin Parker
Write the summary of the essay "What is Poverty?" by Jo Goodwin Parker.
This personal essay, "What is Poverty?" has been written by an anonymous person named Jo Goodwin Parker from West Virginia, in the Southern United States. This essay was mailed to George Henderson, a professor at the University of Oklahoma, with the signature of Jo Goodwin Parker. Later on, this essay was published with no further information about its actual author or source. The essay was published with the facts of the hardships faced by a woman due to poverty.
Here in this essay, we find the writer's painful experiences in her life due to her poverty. She has explained her miserable experiences from childhood to adulthood, where she has experienced various hardships in her life.
In her essay, she has talked about various aspects of poverty. She has given a real and graphic account of what being poor actually means on a daily basis. According to her, poverty is more ugly, cruel, and devastating than it is shown in newspapers.
She has defined poverty as a lack - that is, living without hope, better foodstuffs, medicinal care, proper sanitation, and proper education. It is like an acid that destroys pride, honour, health, and the future. Parker’s main purpose is to show how shameful, humiliating, and disgusting it is to be poor. She wants to draw the readers’ attention to the pathetic state of the poor. She wants her readers to know about poverty without showing pity for her.
Poor people have to live a restless life, looking at the dark future of their children. Poverty breaks relationships. Parker had three children. Her husband left her due to poverty. He didn't have a regular job. He left all of them due to the burden of the family. He left home without saying goodbye. Their condition was quite worse during that time. They even didn't have money to buy contraceptives to prevent unwanted births. She had a job. She only earned 22 dollars a week then. Due to her poor diet, she suffered from anaemia. The doctor advised her to have an operation, but she didn't have money. She struggled alone to care for her children. She faced various hardships to care for her children during the cold and summer seasons' days and nights.
Once, she left her children under her mother's care. But when she returned home, she found her kids in a very pitiable condition. Her youngest son was covered with fly specks, and his diaper hadn’t been changed since morning. Her next kid was playing with broken glasses, and the oldest son was playing alone at the edge of the lake. She didn’t have enough income to admit them to a nursery school. She had to pay up to 20 dollars a week for three children to admit them. But, her income was 22 dollars only. For the sake of the children's care, she decided to quit her job.
ANALYSIS OF THE ESSAY
What is Poverty by Jo Goodwin Parker
Write a short analysis of the essay "What is Poverty?" by Jo Goodwin Parker.
This essay is related to the problems of poverty. Poverty makes us weaker in various aspects. Money plays a vital role in poverty. If we want to solve problems, we need money. To get rid of the garbage, we need a shovel. But to buy a shovel, we need money. To get any job, we must be neat and clean, but we need money to buy soap and clothes. The writer has described various events that happened to her because of poverty. She left the school because rich people’s children used to tease her all the time in the school because she was poor. She became pregnant many times because birth control was expensive for her. Her husband left her because of poverty. Her economic status was too poor, so she couldn’t do her operation in time. She used to provide cornbread without oil as a breakfast to her kids. She used to wash dishes with cold water without using soap. She didn't buy soap in order to buy her baby's diaper. She even didn't buy vaseline for her hands or the baby's diaper rash. She visited various government and private agencies to ask for help but did not find the right person to help her. She felt much shame and humiliation. For the sake of three children, she had to spread her hands in different places.
Important Questions and Answers
1. According to Parker, what is poverty?
Answer:
Poverty is not just lack of money - it is shame, pain, and hopelessness in every moment. It is living without hope, good food, medicine, cleanliness, and education. It is like acid that eats away pride, health, honour and the future.
2. How is poverty difficult for Parker’s children? Give some specific examples.
Answer:
Poverty robs her three children of health, safety, and future. They eat corn bread without oil, wear dirty clothes, and have no school. When left at Granny’s: the youngest was covered with flies and unchanged diaper; the middle one was playing with broken glass; the eldest was alone by the pond.
3. How did Parker try to get help, and what problems did she face?
Answer:
She ran from office to office, told her painful story again and again, waited for hours, and faced shame and insult. Finally she got only $78 a month – not enough even for soap, vaseline, or hot water.
4. Why are people’s attitudes and prejudices the biggest obstacles for her?
Answer:
Society thinks the poor are lazy and unworthy. Neighbours call her “mother of illegitimate children”. Offices and people humiliate her. These prejudices stop real help.
5. How does Parker defend her inability to get help?
Answer:
She says, “I am poor, so I cannot beg. Begging brings shame and more disappointment. With $78, I couldn’t even buy soap or hot water. I no longer have the strength to face shame”.
6. What does Parker mean when she says “The poor are always silent”?
Answer:
She means that the poor remain silent in their lives because of shame and fear. No one listens to their pain. But Parker asks, “Will you also remain silent?” We must speak and act with an angry heart.
7. Explain: “Poverty is looking into a black future".
Answer:
This statement is the bitter reality of poverty. Poverty destroys children’s future. Parker says that her sons will end up behind prison bars or lost in drugs addiction – trapped in the same cycle of poverty similar to her life's poverty.
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